I Borrowed $178,000 to Spread Fertilizer

Summary

The Ramsey Show Highlights Summary

Episode: I Borrowed $178,000 to Spread Fertilizer
Date: April 13, 2026
Host: Dave Ramsey (A)
Guest: Leland (B), 22-year-old business owner

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Overview of the Episode

In this candid episode, Dave Ramsey speaks with Leland, a 22-year-old who started a custom dry fertilizer spreading business and ended up facing repossession and overwhelming debt after borrowing $178,000 to buy equipment. The discussion centers on business mistakes, the harsh realities of debt, and practical steps to recover and move forward. Dave draws from his own past mistakes to offer tough love, real-world advice, and hope to those who have taken financial risks that ended poorly.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Leland’s Story: How the Debt Happened

• Business Type and Borrowing:

  • Leland started a custom dry fertilizer spreading business ("I started a business last year and it's kind of just went backwards on me..." [00:06]).
  • Purchased a specialized applicator for dry fertilizer application on fields with a $178,000 loan, paying $12,000 down ([00:34]–[01:13]).
  • Annual payment required: $40,000.

• Loan Approval Concerns:

  • Dave expresses astonishment that a lender would risk so much on someone so young with little collateral:
    • “I'm confused why they would loan a 22 year old $178,000 on a piece of farm.” [00:53]
  • Leland’s background: Experienced in agriculture, but not at the scale of running such a business on his own ([01:20]).

• Business Failure & Market Reality:

  • Leland struggled to secure enough clients despite marketed efforts (“I put my name out within 100-mile radius… there's not a lot of people doing dry.” [02:04]).
  • Farm economy conditions and alternative practices left him with little demand.

• Personal Impact:

  • Leland shares the emotional weight:
    • “Yeah, it's definitely scary to be sitting here in this position. It's just been haunting me ever since, I guess.” [02:22]

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Hard Lessons: Dave Ramsey’s Tough Love

• On Borrowing to Start a Business:

  • Dave candidly calls the move “straight up stupid” ([02:32]).
  • Emphasizes his own past bankruptcy as a parallel:
    • “I went broke when I was 28 and I had more zeros on the end of my stupidity than you do. So I got you beat, right?” [02:32]
  • Lesson:
    • “We don’t borrow money to start businesses because things never turn out exactly the way they're supposed to in business.” [03:30]

• On Next Steps and Facing Repossession:

  • Predicts likely repossession of the equipment and an ensuing “deficit balance,” the amount Leland will still owe after auction ([04:20]).
  • Details likely scenario:
    • If the equipment sells for less than the owed amount (e.g., $100k for a $178k debt), the remaining $78k is Leland’s responsibility ([05:00]).
  • Advises against bankruptcy for now because the business has no viable path forward ([04:35]).

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Recovery Strategy: What to Do Next

• Practical Advice for Debt Resolution:

  • Save aggressively over the next 1–2 years (“working your little tail end off”), aiming to accumulate ~$25,000 ([06:14]).
  • When creditors eventually seek payment, offer the saved lump sum as a settlement—a strategy that often results in creditors accepting 20–25 cents on the dollar ([06:18]).
    • “If he stands up and offers me 25k, I do a little happy dance and take it. If I’m the banker, you follow me?” [07:07]
  • Emphasizes not to initiate contact; wait for the creditor.

• Focus on the Future:

  • Encourages Leland to think long-term about his career and financial security:
    • “What do I want to be doing when I'm 32, that I'm a millionaire and it's not $25 an hour work? I'll help you with that.” [07:53]
  • Stresses not to repeat the mistake of heavy borrowing:
    • “It's not going into debt $178,000 to spread manure. Oh, no, this was dry. I'm sorry. Okay. But anyway, you see the point.” [08:02]

• Emotional Support & Encouragement:

  • Shares that everyone makes mistakes in their 20s (“You're talking to the choir here. Okay? Singing with choir.” [08:31]).
  • Offers ongoing support:
    • “Anything you need, Leland, you call me. And if you want to save up that money and when they mess with you, you call me. I'll walk you through it. I'll show you how to negotiate with them.” [08:44]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On risky loans:
  • Dave: “There’s nothing, there’s nothing that says this deal should have happened.” [01:26]
• On youth and business:
  • Dave: “All my life is not long.” [01:22]
• On the magnitude of the mistake:
  • Dave: “I went broke when I was 28 and I had more zeros on the end of my stupidity than you do.” [02:32]
• On creditor expectations:
  • Dave: “If he stands up and offers me 25k, I do a little happy dance and take it. If I’m the banker, you follow me?” [07:07]
• On moving forward:
  • Dave: “Develop a future and a plan that doesn’t involve a Hail Mary. You threw a Hail Mary into the end zone and got intercepted. Don’t do that again.” [08:35]

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Important Timestamps

• [00:06] – Leland introduces his business and looming repossession
• [01:13] – Leland details down payment and loan
• [02:04] – Leland discusses failed outreach and market decline
• [02:32] – Dave shares personal bankruptcy story; calls out the truth of risky business loans
• [03:30] – Dave explains his rationale: never borrow to start a business
• [04:35] – Options: repossession, bankruptcy (not recommended here)
• [05:00] – Explanation of “deficit balance” after equipment sale
• [06:18] – Settlement strategy with creditor
• [07:53] – Broad career advice for Leland’s future
• [08:35] – Motivation and emotional support: move forward smarter

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Final Thoughts

This episode distills one of The Ramsey Show’s core philosophies: Avoid debt, especially for risky ventures, and accept hard-earned lessons as opportunities to build a smarter, more resilient future. Dave Ramsey’s tough love, humor, and willingness to draw on his own failures provide a compassionate—if bracing—roadmap for young people who find themselves in deep water with business debts.

For listeners: If you or someone you know has made an early career misstep with debt, Leland’s story and Dave’s advice are a valuable, real-world playbook for regaining stability and making smarter choices ahead.

Transcript

[A]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today.

[B]

I'm 22 years old. I started a business last year and it's kind of just went backwards on me where I'm to the point now where I've got a piece of equipment that I'm sitting here staring down the barrel again. Where they're basically probably going to have to come repossess it the 1st of April.

[A]

So you started what kind of business?

[B]

Custom dry fertilizer spreading business.

[A]

Okay, and so you bought a. What is the equipment?

[B]

It's applicator that applies dry fertilizer on fields.

[A]

And what. How much do you owe on it?

[B]

178,000. My annual payment on it's 40. $40,000 a year. And everything's just went back.

[A]

I'm confused why they would loan a 22 year old $178,000 on a piece of farm.

[B]

Well, because I had a way to get into the business. And then since then it's just went backwards. Since then I had the money for a down payment. Put the money down.

[A]

How much did you put down?

[B]

12,000.

[A]

But still, I mean, you were not even. Were you in the business already?

[B]

I've been in agriculture business all my life.

[A]

You're 22?

[B]

Yes, sir.

[A]

Okay. All my life is not long.

[B]

Well, I've been doing it ever since I could.

[A]

I know, honey, but I'm talking about moron loans. You $178,000 with a $12,000 down payment. When you're 22 years old. There's nothing, there's nothing that says this deal should have happened. Leland, you can't turn around and sell it.

[B]

I've been trying to. I've tried selling it with an auction company, but they wanted me to put a $100,000 up front before they'd even sell it.

[A]

Yeah, and so you had grand plans of spreading a lot of fertilizer. What happened?

[B]

I put my name out within 100 mile radius. And the farm economy the way it is, fertilizer prices aside, there's not a lot of people doing dry. They're all going different routes.

[A]

I'm sorry, hon. This is scary, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah, it definitely is. Yeah, it's definitely scary to be sitting here in this position. It's just been haunting me ever since, I guess.

[A]

All right, well, I went broke when I was 28 and I had more zeros on the end of my stupidity than you do. So I got you beat, right? Because this was straight up stupid. And the guy that loaned you the money deserves to lose $100,000. Whatever company did this. What's the name of the company?

[B]

I can't remember off the top of my head. And I.

[A]

You owe them $178,000 and you don't know the name of the company?

[B]

Well, I do. It's on a piece of paper at my house. And I don't have that information in front of me.

[A]

You bought it at a dealership, didn't you? What brand is it?

[B]

John Deere?

[A]

Yeah, I guess so. So you don't know John Deere Incorporated the money?

[B]

No, no, absolutely not.

[A]

Okay. All right.

[B]

And my plan was, you know, do 10,000 acres a year. That can be done extremely easy. And I found out the hard way that it has not been near as easy as what everybody said it was supposed to be.

[A]

So the moral of the story is, we don't borrow money to start businesses because things never turn out exactly the way they're supposed to in business. That's the real business. And so that's the. A lesson that, sadly, you have learned. The only good news is you Learned it at 22. I learned it at 28. So I had the rest of my life to not do that stupid mistake again. And you have the rest of your life to not do this stupid mistake again. So the next time you have a bright idea and someone wants to loan you money to do your bright idea, you tell them no, right?

[B]

Yes, sir.

[A]

Okay. Good. All right, so we've learned our lesson. Now let's walk through it. I'm so sorry. Honestly. So I do not know a way around this, because I don't know your world. I'm still just sitting here aghast that someone loaned you that money, loaned you $178,000 to spread fertilizer. There's just so many fertilizer jokes that I could weave into this. But, yeah, it just kind of comes. They just roll off the mind right now. But anyway, the. The spreading of fertilizer is pretty thick here. But the. So let me tell you what I think is going to happen and how you can handle it. Okay? I think you're going to get repoed at the first of the month. I don't know how to tell you to stop that with anything that's reasonable. One thing you could stop it with is a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. But that's a. Or a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, even in this case. But. But that's a pipe dream, because the business idea is dead, and there's no way to revive the cash flow if you could revive the cash flow starting two months from now. We could delay the repo by putting it into a bankruptcy. But I wouldn't do that here because I think this business idea is just a swing and a miss, right? So I think they're taking it at the first of the month, okay? Then what's going to happen is they're going to sell the piece of equipment for X number of dollars at that same auction and then they're going to come knocking on your door for the difference. It's called the deficit. Okay? So let's play pretend. Let's play pretend. And it's 178,000 owed and they sell the piece of equipment for 100,000 and they come see you for 78,000. You're 22 years old, you don't have any money, right? That's where we're going to be. It's probably going to be a year before they knock on your door wanting the difference. It's not going to be soon, okay? And when they do, normally what happens is they push you and push you and the person files bankruptcy and they get Nothing on their 78,000. In our example story here, okay? However, you have a year to prepare for this battle. And were you to save up during this coming year by working your little tail end off $25,000 and you offer them $25,000 as settlement in full on the deficit, they'll probably take it because they're used to getting nothing, right? We settle deficits on car repos at 20, 25 cents on the dollar every day. I've not done it much on farm equipment, so I don't know that world, but it's probably pretty close. And the reason we're able to settle those deficits at that is because they very seldom collect anything. Usually the person files chapter seven bankruptcy, they get a big goose egg. Zero. Especially when you look at it through the creditor's eyes. Not to put you down, Leland, but looking at it from the banker's perspective, I'm trying to get money out of a 23 year old who's broke. The likelihood of that's close to zero,

[B]

right?

[A]

So if he stands up and offers me 25k, I do a little happy dance and take it. If I'm the banker, you follow me? So what are you gonna do for a living now that your life is starting over, sir?

[B]

I mean, I'm pretty much self employed and don't. I mean, I have a college degree

[A]

and what are you gonna do for a living, sir?

[B]

You're Gonna fall.

[A]

You're gonna farm. Whose farm are you farming?

[B]

Some. Some friends.

[A]

You're going to work on a farm?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

For someone else?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And what does that pay?

[B]

It just depends. Sometimes $25 an hour, depending on who you're working for.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

All right.

[A]

And then ask yourself, what do I want to be doing when I'm 32, that I'm a millionaire and it's not $25 an hour work? I'll help you with that.

[B]

Yes, sir.

[A]

And it's not going into debt. 178,000 to spread manure. Oh, no, this was dry. I'm sorry. Okay. But anyway, you see the point. So you got to figure out, what am I going to do next? Because one of the things that I discovered when I went bankrupt, because I couldn't turn it around the way I think you actually can turn it around. If you'll work like a crazy person and stack cash and keep your living expenses very, very low, I think you can scratch up some cash and settle the deficit. When they do come after you one or two years from now, don't call them. Wait for them to call you. And in the meantime, build a war chest. And then settle it in full in writing. Settlement. And I think you can get through this. I really do. And then you could just look at this in the rearview mirror as that dumb thing I did when I was 22. I can look at my life in the rearview mirror. That whole series of dumb things I did when I was 28. You can. You guys paid off, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars because of dumb things you did in your early 20s. A lot of stupid things. Yeah. And so it's. You know, you're talking to the choir here. Okay? Singing with choir. So. But I do want you to develop a future and a plan that doesn't involve a Hail Mary. You threw a Hail Mary into the end zone and got intercepted. Don't do that again. Learn. Learn from the mistake. And we'll walk with you. Anything you need, Leland, you call me. And if you want to save up that money and when they mess with you, you call me. I'll walk you through it. I'll show you how to negotiate with them. Create your free every dollar budget today. The simplest way to budget for your life.